A dose of sunshine, even on cloudy days.

Volunteer

It may not be something that happens every day. However, I am certain that if you consciously look, you will see opportunities to do good for others present themselves fairly frequently.

Take a short trip with me down the Boulevard and you may see. It’s early and sunny but cold and I have just made the prerequisite morning stop at Dunkin’ Donuts. I said “yes” to the combo and am happily snacking on the hot and tasty hashbrowns that came with my coffee and breakfast sandwich. I come up on a red light, as is so common on any city boulevard, and I take out my hot, heavenly scented breakfast sandwich so I can unwrap it.

As I pull the wrapped sandwich out of the take-out bag, I glance up at the light and at the corner and see a man with a sign made from a scrap of cardboard. You know the man and the sign, because even in a country where so many are blessed to not be this man, there are still many in every town, city, and state that share his plight. I look at him and then I look at my still wrapped, hot, delicious, breakfast sandwich and I make the decision.

I offer my sandwich to this man, this stranger, who is alone and standing out in the cold with his sign. He smiles hesitantly as he approaches my car and then, sandwich in hand he thanks me, wishes me a good day, and thanks me again.

That is an opportunity. Am I saying that you should go to your local purveyor of hot, delicious breakfast sandwiches, buy some, and drive around searching for folks with cardboard signs to give them to? No, not quite. Although, I like where your head is at. I am saying that situations may present themselves more frequently than they are seen and acted on.

Was I hungry? You bet. In a 14 hour window, those hashbrowns were the only thing I had eaten. However, that was my own doing and I could easily obtain my choice of food again. I was only at my own mercy.

That man on the corner, I don’t know his story. I don’t even know his name. What I do know is that there is a pretty good chance that he doesn’t know when his next meal will be or where it will come from, and that by giving him mine, he has been helped. Good has been done.

Will that small gesture solve his problems? Nope, but it will help him. If we all seek to do little things like this or spend time volunteering or being an advocate for change, we can make a huge impact on the world we live in.